You have confidence in your ideas and your perspective. You are an expert in your field, or on this topic, and you know there are others who will benefit from your expertise and your book or article.
Or you are completing an important presentation and want to make sure it makes sense to someone else.
Or your video script feels as if it is not quite complete, but you’re not sure what you’re missing.
Hiring a professional editor or proofreader gives you the piece of mind that your final product will be flawless.
What does a proofreader do?
A proofreader is a technician who looks for errors in the mechanics, word usage, grammar, or syntax of your writing.
Did you use the right version of “there / their / they’re”? (I can tell you.)
Does the word “inconceivable” mean what you think it means? (Depends.)
Is a preposition something you can end a sentence with? (Generally, no.)
Can semicolon be used to connect these sentences; or should they be printed as two sentences? (A comma is all you need here.)
A proofreader looks at your post, paper, thesis, short story, ebook, or book and looks for technical errors, correcting them using “track changes” so you can see and accept the corrections.
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Hire a proofreader if your ideas and presentation are strong, and you need someone to make sure it is perfect, as a last step before publication or presentation.
Proofreading: $45 / hr. (Project Minimum $45)
This price is the industry standard for experienced proofreaders.
But how long will it take to proofread your item?
Papers arrive formatted in different ways, with different fonts and font sizes, so an hourly rate is hard to anticipate. Another way to calculate this is about a penny a word. ($.01 x # of words.) The $45 minimum applies.
What does an editor do?
An editor does everything a proofreader does, and much, much more.
An editor thinks like a reader, and asks critical questions along the way, like,
- “Does this make sense?”
- “Are these ideas presented in the logical order?”
- “Is there enough evidence to support this conclusion?”
- “Is there a more accurate or powerful way to say this?”
- “What details might help the reader connect with this character?”
In addition to correcting typographical errors, run-on sentences, or comma splices as a proofreader would, an editor makes notes and suggestions that make your writing stronger.
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An editor identifies phrases that might be offensive or misleading and replaces them with language that helps you accomplish your goals with the writing.
Where a proofreader will simply turn a comma into a period, an editor might ask, “Did you mean to compare these ideas to each other? If so, keep it as it is. If not, try this:”
An editor provides not only corrections, but solutions and options for strengthening the writing.
Good editors invisibly improve a work, letting the author’s ideas and voice shine. In feedback, this sounds like, “He was able to … amplify what was unique about my own style.” (This is a rewarding recommendation to hear!)
Or, “This speech is so powerful with your changes. I’ve told the story dozens of times, but reading this version made me cry like I was hearing it the first time.” (I got this response once from a client. Best! Feedback! Ever!)
Telling a good story but want it to be great?
Want to take your ebook to the next level?
It turns out Jack was able to put himself in my readers’ shoes better than I can, and encourage me to amplify what’s unique about my own style, rather than suppress it. – Brian David Hall, SaaS expert and e-book author.
Editing: $60 / hr. (Project minimum $60)
This price is the industry standard for experienced editors with less than five years experience or who have not worked for a publishing house.
But how long will it take to edit your item?
Ebooks, articles, white papers, and other kinds of writing all arrive formatted in different ways, with different fonts and font sizes. They also arrive in need of different amounts of assistance.
This makes it hard to estimate a price, so an hourly amount is hard to anticipate. Another way to estimate the price of editing your work is to calculate about two cents a word. ($.02 x # of words.) A $60 project minimum applies.